


Seven Shot Deaths

by nikascloud



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29344080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikascloud/pseuds/nikascloud
Summary: A young boy named Gon Freecss who lives on a small island named Whale Island life completely changes when he is met face to face with a wanted murderer known as  "The Seven Shot Killer". (Detective Au)
Relationships: Gon Freecs & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs & Kurapika, Gon Freecs & Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs & Leorio Paladiknight, Gon Freecs & Mito Freecs, Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight
Kudos: 6





	1. trigger warnings and disclaimers

-=+=-

hiya! nika here :) i want to make sure everyone who reads this is safe, so here are a few content / trigger warnings:

✦ Guns

✦ Death

✦ Profanity/ Swearing

✦ Abuse / Mentions of abuse

✦ Violence

✦ More will be added as I update, for each chapter I recommend coming back here just to make sure none of your triggers are on this list.

Read at your own risk.

( all these trigger warnings makes this fanfic seem like it's gonna be really intense so lemme tell you right not it's not gonna be as rated R as it's sounding rn lolol )

【 disclaimers 】

Like I said before, most characters in this story belong to Yoshihiro Togashi!

This is my first ever fanfic! I can already imagine myself in a year looking back at this fanfic and cringing hhhh- when i get better at writing there will probably be a rewrite of this fic

I don't have a posting schedule for this fanfic, i'm dealing with school rn so i'll post when ever I can.

To avoid confusion:

•there is no nen

•this is a detective/crime au

•"hunter" is a nickname for a detective that works at HXA (HunterX Agency)

•This work is also on wattpad, and I’m thinking about putting it on Fanfiction.net as well. 

~ gon and killua are minors(12-13) throughout this entire fanfic so please do not sexualize them !! ~

that's all! I hope you enjoy! (o゜▽゜)o☆

-=+=-


	2. 1✦ - an introduction to sorrow

「 _Gon Freecss_

October 11, 2011

 _2:15 pm_ 」

Life has always been great for me! Of course I've had my ups and downs, but everybody goes through those, right? Well anyway, let me introduce myself! My name is Gon Freecss! I'm 12 years old, and I live with my Aunt Mito on an island called Whale Island. I love fishing, and exploring! Though, I've already seen everything there is to see on Whale island, so there's not much exploring that I can really do here. But, when I get older I'm gonna travel the world!

Besides my aspiration, I'm your average 12 year old boy. I usually spend my time fishing, walking through forests, and hanging out with my Aunt Mito. Speaking of my Aunt, lately I've been spending a lot of time with her to try and make her feel better... Recently, my great grandmother who had been living with us passed away in her sleep.

The funeral was...rough. A lot of people from town attended it. I remember looking up at Aunt Mito and seeing tears running down her face. This was the first time I'd ever seen Aunt Mito cry.

My great grandmother was well known throughout our town, everyone loved her! She was very kind and wise, anytime I had a problem I would go to her for advice. I bet if we lived closer to town, a lot of other people would come to our house just to seek her advice!

I miss her... A lot.

Snapping out of thought, I looked around my room. My full-sized bed sat in the corner of the room, to the right side of my window. To the left of the window was where my desk was, and where I had been sitting at. On the wall next to my desk was a sand-colored dresser that stored most of my clothes. The clothes that couldn't fit in the dresser were hung up in the closet. Across from my desk was the door that lead into the hallway. Everything in my room was neat, and in place. I always keep my room this way.

Sliding back from the desk, I stood up and walked on a blue rectangle rug that led from the center of the room to the door. Before leaving the room I glanced at the window. The sun was still up, the sky was a bright blue, and I could see birds flying freely in the distance.

It looks like it's pretty nice outside, so I'll go to the today! While I'm out I can even pick some flowers for Aunt Mito. From previous experience, I've gotten pretty good at finding nice flowers to give as gifts!

Exiting my room, I walked through the hallway and downstairs to the front door. Strangely, on the way there I didn't see Aunt Mito anywhere. I slipped on a pair of black combat boots that I had left by the door. The boots matched my black shorts, and grey T-shirt.

"Aunt Mito, I'll be back!" I shouted, hoping to hear a response.

...nothing.

Maybe she went to town and forgot to tell me? From what I've seen she wasn't in any of the rooms upstairs, and if she was downstairs she would've responded to me. So, she isn't in the house.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a notepad and a pen.

"ᧁoiꪀᧁꪮꪊ𝚝, wi𝑙𝑙 ᥇ꫀ ᥇ꪖᥴ𝘬 𝘴ooꪀ - ᧁoꪀ" I wrote. (going out, will be back soon. -gon )

Sticking the note to the fridge, I took a second to acknowledge the smell of the kitchen. I have an extremely great sense of smell, so I can easily pick up small details by just smelling something's scent! The room smelled like fresh linen, Mito must've had a candle lit in here before she left. The scent was still pretty strong, which means the candle wasn't put out too long ago. Aunt Mito's scent was still pretty vivid as well, so she probably just left recently.

Satisfied with this answer, I left the kitchen and just before heading out the door I glanced at the kitchen one more time.

The kitchen, and the house in general felt so...empty. Even when Aunt mito's home, the house still feels empty. I can tell that Aunt Mito feels it too.

As I walked outside I could feel a cool breeze hit my face, and the exposed parts of my arms and legs.

It felt really nice!

Besides the breeze, it was pretty warm, and sunny outside. I could hear birds chirping, and see the leaves on each tree in the distance delicately shake from the wind. A large plain of grass separated my house from a hill that lead up into the forest I wanted to visit.

Remembering to the door behind me, I began heading towards the forest. As I walked, the grass underneath my boots made a soft crunch.

My pace quickened into a run as I approached the hill leading into to the forest. The muscles in my thigh began to burn as I took on the steep hill. I remember having a conversation with my great grandmother about why our muscles burn when we use them, it's because of galactic acid... or something like that.

As I reached the entrance to the forest I could see something big, orange and furry in the near distance.

It looks and smells like the Foxbear I raised when I was younger named Kon. But why is he here? Kon is now the ruler of the forest, so it's also very weird that he's here alone.

"Kon!!" I yelled.

My furry friend jumped before turning to look at me.

"It's me, Gon!" I continued to shout, waving my hands in the air to make sure he saw me. He looked a little frightened, which isn't an emotion that you would normally see from a Foxbear.

Before approaching him I had to study the area to see if anything was wrong. I couldn't sense, or smell anyone else except Kon. Looking around wasn't very helpful either, there were nothing but trees, grass, a lot of plants and bushes around us.

Trying to be as quiet as I possibly could, I slowly approached Kon. I couldn't go too close to him because of my scent. Female Foxbears despise the smell of human scent, so if I were to get too close my scent would rub onto Kon and he'd probably get in trouble with his mate.

As I walked closer to the Foxbear, I could see his features a lot better. Kon had changed a bit since the last time I've seen him. His body was pretty similar to the average bear's body, while his head favored a fox's head. Hence the name of his breed "Foxbear". He was twice my height, was covered in a thick coat of orange fur and had big lime green eyes.

Now that I was closer, I could also read his facial expression a lot better. He looked very frightened, which means something serious must've happened. That would also explain why he's here alone and why he's so close to the entrance of the forest.

"Kon, are you okay? Did something happen?"

Kon, who had been originally standing on only 2 paws lowered his body onto all fours. He wanted to take me somewhere.

I climbed onto his back and gently placed my hands in front of me for support. Once I was on comfortably I tapped his back to let him know I'm

ready to go.

Kon immediately understood this motion and began sprinting deeper into the forest. He was running so fast to the point where everything we passed by looked blurry.

After a few minutes of running Kon finally came to a halt and lowered his body so I could safely get down.

Sliding down the side of his back, I examined the area we were at. We were in front of a green-ish pond, surrounded by trees and plants. The ground was covered in uneven grass and... blood? What really caught my attention was the bright orange color in the corner of my eye.

As soon as I turned my head to see what this bright orange thing was... my stomach dropped. 3 Foxbears laid next to each other side by side, their bodies appeared limp.

They smelled like they were already dead, but I ran up to their bodies to make sure. Examining their bodies, I found that each Foxbear had several bullet wounds. Strangely enough all three of the Foxbears each had the same amount of bullet wounds, and in the exact same places. One to the forehead, one on each shoulder, and two on each leg. That's 9 in total... I think...

What the hell...? Hunting animals is not allowed in this forest, and by the placements of the bullet wounds it was obvious that these Foxbears were not killed out of self defense.

I turned to meet the eyes of Kon. He looked angry, frightened, and sad all at once.

"Did you see the person who did this?" I asked.

Kon shook his head in response.

"Whoever did this isn't going to get away with it, I swear!"

✦

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't worry, i'm not gonna write authors notes very often but i just wanted to say a few things:
> 
> •feedback is always welcomed!! I'm looking to improve as a writer, so if there's something that could be improved please lmk :)
> 
> •For the sake of this ff, I'm writing Gon a little bit different from his canon 2011 self. He pays a bit more attention to detail, and there are other things that are different about him. I would say that this Gon resembles 1999 Gon more than 2011 Gon.
> 
> •I suggest paying very closely to small details, they could be important in the future.
> 
> •anyways that's it! cya!


	3. 2✦ - the tragedy of the truth

「 _Gon Freecss_

October 11, 2011

 _4:58 pm_ 」

_...I can't think straight_

_?Is anyone there_

_Anyone?_

_?Why is my heart pounding so hard_

_I can't see either, everything is pitch black.._

_?Hello? Anyone there_

_-I'm sorry, it's all my fault I_

_..._

_It's quiet_

_It's-_

_..._

_"GOONN!!"_

I jolted up and gasped for air.

Who was that? Their voice sounded so familiar, yet I've never heard it before. It was a bit more mature, but not too far away from mine.

As I tried to gather my thoughts I looked around. I was still in the forest, trees and bushes surrounded me. Before I jolted up I had been laying down in the grass. I must've fallen asleep, which means that whatever just happened was a dream.

Releasing a sigh of relief, I stood up and stretched my arms and legs.

Oh, I remember what happened now! I came over here with Kon to try and figure out what to do about the foxbear killings. I guess when I dozed off Kon left, since he was no where to be seen.

Wiping off any dirt that got on my clothes, I looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, and a few very thin clouds slowly drifted across the sky.

I should probably go home, hopefully Aunt Mito was back so I could tell her about the Foxbear problem.

As I started walking back home, I thought about what could've happened. It's wrong of me to just assume they were killed on purpose, but the locations of the bullet wounds were very specific.

If their deaths weren't accidental, why were they killed? Their fur nor their bodies had been taken after they were killed, so it's obvious they weren't killed for money...

Hmph, all of this thinking was really making my brain hurt.

After a few minutes I finally made it back home. Taking in one last breath of the outside air, I stepped towards the door and opened it.

As I walked inside the smell of turkey filled my nose. Aunt Mito was home!

I pulled off my boots and set them by the door. After fixing them I walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Aunt Mito!" I beamed.

Aunt Mito turned around and smiled at me.

"Hey! I saw your note, how were things out there?" She asked.

"Not too good.."

"Oh? Wanna talk about it over dinner? The food's almost ready."

I nodded.

"Alright. Can you set the table for me, please?"

"Sure thing!" I said, walking into the dining room.

In the dining room a large wooden table with chairs to accompany it sat in the middle of the room. Behind the table was a glass cabinet that contained silverware, plates and cups for the table.

I walked up to the cabinet and grabbed two plates, two cups, and two sets of silverware. As I set everything on the table Aunt mito came in with the food. In one hand she held the turkey, and in another a big bowl of mixed vegetables.

"Everything's all set up!" I said, sitting down at the table.

Aunt mito placed the food at the center of the table. She then sat in the chair across from mine and closed her eyes.

I followed suit and for a minute we silently prayed over the food. Though, if I'm being honest I don't care much for religion.

"So.. What happened out there?"

"Well, I saw Kon today... Then he showed me these other Foxbears, but.... They we're dead, all three of them. They each had been shot multiple times"

I could see Aunt Mito's expression change.

"By any chance, did you count the number of times they were shot?"

"Well, each of them were shot the same number of times, and in the exact same places. One in the forehead, one on each shoulder, and two on both legs. That's nine, right?"

"..."

I frowned as I watched my Aunt's stare go completely blank.

"Are you okay? I asked.

"Mhm... That's seven shots Gon, not nine."

"Oh!"

Aunt Mito softly chuckled. "That's definitely weird." she said while taking a bite of the slice of turkey she had grabbed.

"Yeah, if you don't mind I wanna go back out there tomorrow."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Gon."

"Pleaseeee Aunt Mito! I promise I'll be safe! If anything happens I can just run straight back home and tell you!"

"Ask me again tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay..."

For the rest of dinner we talked about random things, like the cruise ship that stopped at our island this morning and the fishing contest that's being held next week.

After about 30 minutes we both finished our food and it was time to clean up. Aunt Mito and I agreed on her doing the dishes, and me wiping down the table.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a rag, and a spray bottle with some kind of cleaning substance inside of it.

"Hey Gon, have you ever thought about going to a public school?" Aunt Mito asked me as she washed the plates off.

"Not really... Wouldn't I have to go off the island for that?”

"Mhm, I was just thinking that maybe if I sent you to one, you'd make a friend or two around your age."

"I'm fine, I have Noko!"

Noko was the only other child that lived on this Island besides me. Sometimes we write letters to each other, but I haven't heard from her since the funeral.

"Noko is much younger than you, though." Aunt Mito sighed. "That reminds me, I passed by her and her mom on my way back today. She wanted me to give you a letter, I'll go get it."

"I can go get it, where's it at?" I asked as I sat the cleaning supplies on the counter.

"Upstairs on my dresser, it's underneath a green perfume bottle." She answered.

"Okay!" I exclaimed, running up the stairs.

While running pass my room to get to Aunt Mito's I noticed there a few plastic bags full of things leaning against the hallway walls. I'm guessing thatthey were full of all the stuff she brought from town.

Slowing down my pace, I walked into Aunt Mito's room and used the light switch next to the door frame to cut the lights on. I then looked to Aunt Mito's dresser and walked over to it.

Aunt Mito's room was a bit of a mess, which is kind of surprising since she's sort of a clean freak. There were papers and clothes everywhere!

Besides the mess, Aunt Mito's room was pretty nice. The headboard of her bed was against the wall next to the door, while the footboard stuck out towards the center of the room. On the wall next to her bed was her dresser. Her room pretty much had the same things mine did. Her room was also a bit larger compared to mine, and her furniture was a dark brown

Aunt Mito's dresser was also a mess. Spare coins, papers, and news papers were everywhere. On top of all of that stuff were her toiletries. I made sure to focus on only the small green perfume that sat at the center of the dresser. I lifted it up and grabbed the first paper under it. After grabbing the piece of paper I turned around, and glanced over it to make sure it was the letter.

Strangely enough, the paper looked old, and was tinted yellow. In a matter of fact it didn't look like a letter at all.

At the top, the paper read "First Petition for Child Custod-" wait... what?

...

I stared at the piece of paper to try and make sense of it. Why would Aunt Mito need “custody”papers for me? Something that really stuck out on the paper was my fathers name, Ging Freecss.

I don't know Ging very well... Aunt Mito says he left me for his job when I was a baby. He didn't want me.

I don't want to snoop around her dresser for answers, so I guess I'll just ask her about it.

I left Aunt Mito's room, taking the paper with me.

"Hey Aunt Mito, I'm a little confused.." I stated, going down the stairs and walking into the kitchen.

"Hm? about what?" Aunt Mito turned around from the sink to look at me.

"This 'letter'" I held the piece of paper out.

Aunt mito bent down a bit to read the piece of paper, as she read it her skin started turning pale.

"Gon... Were you snooping around in my stuff? Where did you get this!?"

"No! It was under the green perfume bottle! What is this?"

...silence

"Aunt mito?"

"Gon... I want you to go put that back, now."

"But, why can't you just explain-"

"GON! I said go put it back!" She practically yelled.

I looked up from the paper to see her facial expression, she was clearly angry. Her face and reaction told me everything I needed to know... As much as I didn't want to believe it, what she originally told me about my father was wrong.

_Aunt Mito... lied to me?_

"ok." I responded.

Aunt Mito and I didn’t speak anymore that night, not even to say goodnight. She needed some time to cool down, I guess.

I’m still not sure what the truth is about my dad and why Aunt Mito wanted to keep it from me.. Thoughts about what could’ve happened prevented me from sleeping that night.

—

「 _Gon Freecss_

October 12, 2011

 _5:30 am_ 」

I had been sitting on my bed and staring out the window all night. Even if I tried I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. There were too many thoughts running around in my head. One of them being the idea of going to find my dad, but I just can’t leave Aunt Mito here by herself.

Maybe this is all just a big misunderstanding. Every abandoned child needs custody papers, right? Maybe showing her the paperwork just caught her off guard. I don’t know much about custody and court cases, so maybe that paper wasn’t such a big deal.

But, if that piece of paper wasn’t important, why wouldn’t Aunt Mito want to tell me about it..

Maybe I should go outside and watch the sun rise to take my mind off of it.

I stood up from my bed and left the room. I had still been wearing green fuzzy pajama pants and a white T-Shirt, but since were out here alone I’m sure no one would mind.

Walking downstairs and passed the kitchen, I slipped on the pair of slippers and opened the door.

As I walked out of the door I stiffened a bit. It was kind of cold outside but that wasn’t the reason why I tensed up, I could smell another presence out here. This smell was different from Aunt Mito’s, in a matter of fact i’ve never smelt it before. It was probably just an animal, though it didn’t really smell like one.

I closed the door and turned my attention to the rising sun, it was really pretty! I haven’t seen a sunrise in a while, so this was nice.

I slowly turned to the door as I heard it creek open.

“Gon..” It was Aunt Mito.

I watched as she walked out the door. She had on a long silky white dress that stopped just above her ankles, a pair of slippers, and a red cardigan that she probably just threw on so she wouldn’t be cold.

She walked up next to me and we both watched the sunrise for a bit.

“It’s pretty, right Aunt mito?”

“Mhm..”

Aunt Mito turned to look at me.

“Gon... I’m sorry...”

I looked up at her.

“I lied.” She admitted.

“I know.. It’s okay Aunt Mito.”

I could see her eyes start to water, she then pulled me into a hug.

“Gon.. Your father didn’t leave you here, I won you over in a custody battle.”

That was the truth.

“I didn’t want to tell you because I feared that you would go searching for him someday. do you-?”

“Yeah.”

She sighed.

“I’m not going to stop you. I just want to let you know what you’re getting into. Ging was known as the world’s greatest detective, but he disappeared a long time ago.”

Ging is a detective!? that’s awesome!

“I have no idea where he is now, and frankly I don’t want to kn-“

Aunt Mito abruptly turned her head towards the few bushes that were not too far away from where we were standing. She looked afraid.

“Aunt mito? Is everything oka-“

Suddenly my vision became blurred, and I felt Aunt Mito’s hug tighten. She lifted me up and turnedaway from the bushes. Because of this sudden movement both of us fell to the ground.

My ears started ringing and everything became fuzzy. I could hear a scream but it sounded distant.

My vision then blackened and I could hear my chest pounding out of fear and confusion.

The intense pulse of my heart started sounding further and further away. I could feel my consciousness slipping away.

_No, I need to stay awake!_

_focus!_

...


	4. 3☆ - so much for a break

「 Leorio Paradinight

October 12, 2011

5:45 am 」

"Leorio! Leorio get up!"

"haahh?" I sleepily groaned and sat up.

"Did you hear that?" My partner, Kurapika asked.

"I was asleep... How the hell would I be able to hear-"

"SHH!" He hushed, putting his finger to his lips.

...

I sighed.

Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. Leorio Paradinight's the name! I'm a 19 year old detective from the HXA (pretty cool, right?). I've been doing this whole detective thing for about a year now. My partner Kurapika and I both graduated from the HXI (the hunterx institution, if you're wondering.) at 18! Which, is super hard to get into and has a super low graduation rate.

If I'm being honest, I don’t really want to be a detective. The only reason why I chose to be one is for the money! At least, that's what I tell everyone when I first meet them. I want to be a doctor for... personal reasons, and I need this job to pay off my studies.

"Kurapika, we've been sitting here in silence for a while and I still haven't heard anything. Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination or somethin'?" I whispered.

"No, It was a scream. It came from that direction." Kurapika pointed to the left of where we both had been sitting at.

I placed my palm on my forehead and frowned my face out of frustration.

"Well this is just great. After weeks of traveling we finally get ONE break and of course during our break we get lost in this damn forest that never seems to end, and now you're hearing screams. Why the hell we're we even assigned this case anyways? We're only rookies, we should have something easier than this!" I groaned.

Kurapika turned his head to the direction where the scream had came from.

"Complaining about it will not solve anything, Leorio."

_Bastard._

My partner Kurapika and I have a pretty good relationship. We argue from time to time about stupid things but end up apologizing to each other afterwards.

The first time we met was on our way to the HXI entrance exams. It wasn't pretty, we got into an argument and almost fought. I'll save that story for another time.

After we graduated we were both short on funds and needed a place to stay. So we agreed on getting a townhouse together and sharing the rent. We live in York New city, pretty near the place we work at. Which is the HXA, the greatest detective agency in the world.

Our job as detectives is kind of why we're here right now. A few others, Kurapika and I have been assigned to a serial killer case. Some dude who's really good with guns has been brutally murdering people and somehow always gets away without been seen or leaving behind any clues.

Our case leaders Mackernasey, Knov and Kite have assigned us with traveling to specific places to find any traces of our serial killer. The island we're on now (Whale island, I think?) is not one of them.

The ship we're currently traveling on made a stop to this island due to a pretty harsh storm, and is now stuck here until the storm thats in our way, passes.

I stood up and sighed.

“Let me guess, you want to see where the scream came from?”

Kurapika looked at me and nodded.

“Where it came from could possibly help us find a way out this forest.” Kurapika added.

The only reason why we came to this forest is because a lady we met in town told us that this forest was the best place to go for walks in. She never told us that there was a high chance of getting lost because everything looks the same in here.

Kurapika stood up and we began running in the direction the scream came from.

It’s probably too early, but I really hope the scream came from two children playing a game of tag or something.


	5. 4✦ - the eyes of a monster

「 Gon Freecss

October 12, 2011

5:55 am 」

_Stay awake.._

_Why am I falling asleep?_

_S_ n _a_ p _o_ u _t_ o _f_ i _t_!

"Damn it, she got in the way."

_who's voice is that?_

_I have to get up and see._

Winning my battle against consciousness, I opened my eyes and slowly sat up.

My body felt...numb? Everything was spinning, I lost my sense of smell and my vision was blurry. I could feel some kind of weight on my legs so I looked down. Something orange and red was laying on top of legs. I couldn't see it clearly.

Orange? What is this? What's happening?

Suddenly, I heard the grass straight ahead of me crunching. Something was coming towards me, but right now i'm not concerned about it.

I raised my hands up to my face. They looked really red. I guess they look this color because of the way the light from the sunrise was shining. The sun was making the sky looked an orangey color.

In attempts to clear my vision I rubbed my eyes. Instead of helping my vision, this made it worse. I suddenly felt a very strong burning sensation in my eyes. It was unbearable.

I yelped and immediately grabbed the collar of my T-shirt and rubbed my eyes with it. I could feel my eyes watering up, and the burning fade a bit.

At this point I couldn't think straight, or at all. It felt like something was fogging up my brain, and my muscles.

Before I could finish rubbing my eyes I heard something click in-front of me. Despite my eyes still burning I released my shirt and opened my eyes to see what this clicking noise was.

A tall person with pale skin, grey neck-length hair, and intimidating scarlet eyes that caused a shiver to go down my spine stood before me. The clothes they wore looked like they came straight out of a spy movie. They were wearing a black long sleeved shirt with 3 buckled straps going around their stomach, tucked into some black cargo pants that had lots of pockets on them. The bottom of their pants were tucked into a pair of completely clean black combat boots.

Who was this? I'd never seen them here before. Were they a tourist? I remember Aunt Mito talked about a cruise ship that stopped here yesterday-

_Aunt Mito..!_

I shot my gaze down at what had been laying on my lap. Now that I could see a lot better I was able to identify what it was. My Aunt Mito had been laying limp on legs, as if she had fallen asleep. The front side of her was facing towards the grass, so the only thing I could see was the backside of her. As I looked I noticed her clothes had been stained with a red like substance... It almost looked like...

_blood?_

I reached out to see if Aunt Mito was okay but immediately paused as soon as I saw my hands.

I thought the sun was just making them look red, but no.. They were covered in blood, which is why my eyes started burning when I tried rubbing them.

The stranger pulled a small gun out and pointed it to my forehead. They then gently placed their index finger on the trigger.

I looked up at their face and realized they had been talking to me this whole time. But, strangely enough I couldn't hear anything they were saying until I desperately strained my ears.

"Interesting... Your body ___%]%>___ , _*]}}]__"

_huh?_

Even when I strained my ears, I couldn't make out what they were saying except for a few words.

"If you weren't on my list I would___*]€{!^,siejb*]€!"

_List? What list?_

"If that women had not shielded you, iseb282$__ dead. But sadly, your luck is about to run out"

_Women? Did they mean Aunt Mito?_

I looked down at My aunt, she hasn't moved this whole time, was she okay? I shook her a bit to see if she would give any response.

"Don't bother, she's already dead."

I immediately tensed up at these words.

_Dead? No, that can't be right. How? When? No they had to be joking, this had to be some kind of prank. Or...Maybe I'm just dreaming? There's no way that Aunt Mito can be dead, it doesn't make sense._

Keeping the gun pointed at me, the stranger walked closer and kicked Aunt Mito off of my lap. She rolled over facing upwards and I could finally see her face.

I wanted to throw up. There were bullet wounds and bloodstains all over her body, her skin was pale and lifeless, and her expression was completely blank.

_No... that's not her, it can't be her. Aunt Mito... can you hear me? You're not dead, right? You can't be... You can't be dead._

_She can't be._

_I can't move._

_She can't be dead._

_Why can't I move?_

"Listen kid, I need to go _*]^]>{!, you have to die. *]]%>____^>]>] thankful that you *]^ to see me. No one has ever *]{€{>^|..."

_What are they saying?_

_She can't be dead.._

_She can't.._

_She's not-_

"Oh? _}#<^£>% missed_____. Only six...—2;(5___"

The stranger walked up to Aunt Mito and aimed the gun at her.

_What are they doing? No.._

I could move my mouth but no sound came out of it. I couldn't talk properly.

_Aunt Mito..._

As the stranger pulled the trigger, my ears started to ring.

_Don't...Please._

They shot her.. The blood splattered everywhere, the grass around us was stained with red.

_Why?_

"There we go. She's technically dead because of you, y'know? If you hadn't gone outside this early________alive. _____your turn______."

_My... fault?_

I stared at the person as the aimed the trigger back to me.

_It's all my fault..._

"______ one_____ ____ six more."

_She's dead because of me._

The stranger pulled the trigger.

_I killed her._

_._

_._

_._

"Damn it!" The stranger pulled the gun back and shoved in their pocket. They came closer to me and tried to pull me drag me but i refused to move. I couldn't.

_She's dead._

"You need to get up and come with me. I'll have to kill you another time. Get up-"

The stranger looked at something in the far distance, as if they heard something and immediately ran in the other direction. I was alone now.

_Alone with..._

I looked at Aunt Mito's body and finally found the strength to stand up and rush over to her body

_I killed her._

I immediately checked her pulse... Nothing .

_She's dead._

I tried shouting her name but... Nothing.

_If it wasn't for me-_

I even tried CPR but... Nothing

_She would still be alive._

Out of distress, I let out a harsh scream.


	6. 5★ - resurfacing trauma

「 _Kurapika_

October 12, 2011

6:00 am 」

"It feels like we've been running for hours...Why the hell is this forest so big?" Leorio whined.

Though complaining is useless, I couldn't blame him for doing so. We've been trapped in this forest since yesterday evening with only two bottles of water and Leorio's Trail Mix.

"Hey Kurapika, about that scream you heard... Did it sound serious?"

"A bit. It sounded desperate and stopped abruptly."

"Great, just when w-"

The sound of a gunshot interrupted Leorio's rambling . Out of instinct we both stopped running, and hid behind a tree.

Assuming that these noises were coming from outside the forest, whatever was happening out there was serious.

Looking over to Leorio to reassure his safety, I noticed that his glasses had fallen off and landed next to my right foot.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"...Leorio, we should hurry." I suggested, handing Leorio his glasses.

He nodded in agreement and we began to run again.

Dodging branches, bushes and flying insects, I finally started to see the end of the forest and a big plain field with a medium-sized house at the center of it.

"Alright we finally found our way out of this hellhole!!" Leorio exclaimed as we exited the forest.

His excitement made me smile a bit. But, my smile quickly faded after hearing a horrid scream coming from someplace close to the house.

Our pace quickened as we inched closer to the house that the scream came from. There was a small hill connecting the exit of the forest to the plain field.

"Don't fall, Leorio."

"I don't need you to tell me that k-"

Leorio preceded to trip on air, and rolled down the hill. I did my best not to laugh at him.

I caught up with him at the bottom of the hill and tried to help him, he insisted on getting up himself.

"Damn it! My suit!" he groaned.

His suit had dirt stains, grass stains and grass on it. Despite not tripping down a hill, my suit was in a similar condition to his.

I glanced over to the front of house and noticed a figure sitting on the grass.

Leorio and I continued to the house until we were close enough to see what exactly was in-front of it.

A little boy who couldn't be over the age of 12 held whom I'm assuming to be his mother figure, in his arms. They were both covered in blood. The boy had tears in his eyes, but not one rolled down his cheeks.

"Aunt Mito...I'm..." His voice sounded like he was still in disbelief.

I froze, this scene felt all too familiar.

My name is Kurapika, I am the last survivor of the Kurta Clan. A group of criminals known as the Phantom Troupe massacred the Clan a few years back.

When I found my mother's body I held her the same way. I desperately called her name in hopes of her response.

The Kurta case was closed due to lack of evidence. I became a detective in order to reopen the case, and hunt down the Phantom Troupe.

My brain wouldn't allow me to stop thinking about when I held my mother. Her skin was pale and dull. Her body felt so cold, and heavy. When I pulled her eyelids open her eyes had been completely missing.

I remember it all so clearly.

"Kid! What happened here?" Leorio asked as he approach the boy, this brought me back to reality.

The child looked up at him, then looked at me. He looked a bit frightened to see us.

"Aunt Mito... You have to help her!" He begged.

Leorio and I directed our attention to the body that laid in the child’s arms. He gently laid her top half onto the ground.

A women, probably around her 20's laid on the ground lifelessly. She had orange shoulder length hair, and fair skin that looked as if it was turning pale. Her eyes had been shut, the boy had probably closed them before we got here. She wore a white silk dress, to the left of the boy was a red cardigan which was probably her's as well. She was covered in blood, I wasn't close enough to her body to specifically see where the blood was coming from.

Leorio examined the body closely, then looked at me. The sad expression on his face told me that she was already dead.

I flinched and looked away. We had no chance of saving her.

"You can help her right!? She's gonna be okay, right?"

Leorio and I both stayed silent.

"She-"

"No, you have to help her! You have to help her!!"

I watched as Leorio tried to find a way to tell the kid that the woman was dead.

"Kid, are you hurt?"

"It doesn't matter right now! Aunt Mito, you have to help her or she'll....die.. She'll be dead because of me.."

I looked at the boy, he had black medium length hair that stuck up to the sky. His eyes were a very light amber, and had smudged blood on the skin surrounding his eyes. The clothes he had been wearing was soaked in blood, probably from the woman's body.

The boy shifted the way he had been sitting on the ground, as he did this something on his right leg caught my attention.

He had been wearing pajama pants, but there was a specific area near his ankle that had been soaked in blood, and was running down his exposed skin.

"Leorio." I called out.

His attention turned to me and I glanced at the wound on the boy. He instantly understood this and looked at the boy.

"Kid, can I make sure you're not hurt?"

The boy shook his head, this cause the tears to finally roll down his cheek. "No, help her first."

"Could I at least get your name?"

"Gon, Gon Freecss"

"Here, I can help the woman, and Leorio you can help Gon." I volunteered, knowing that I wouldn't be able to help the woman at all.

"Is that okay?" Leorio asked.

Gon nodded.

As Leorio moved his full attention to Gon I walked up to the woman's body and squatted next to it.

This women was already dead, there was no saving her. But, I could use this opportunity to investigate where the blood was coming from.

There were seven visible gunshot wounds. One to the forehead, one on each shoulder, one on both thighs and one on both knees. Even if we had came earlier this women had no chance of survival.

Besides the bullet wounds, there were no other signs of trauma done to her body.

Seven bullet wounds, and in very specific places.

_Seven._

Realization soon hit me, this woman was not killed by any ordinary person. She was killed by the Seven Shot Killer. The Serial Killer we were assigned to track down.

I pulled out my phone immediately. Since we were in a plain field I would probably be able to get a signal.

What makes matters even worse is that the murderous fiend must’ve been on the same ship as us. There were no other ships at Whale Island’s dock, and it would be very unlikely that our suspect got here by plane.

_They were right under our noses this whole time._


End file.
